I would love to learn to dance however I am overweight. Everytime I see dancers on TV, they are always super thin. Do I need to lose weight before I can take any classes??

No you don't. Everyone can dance. And at least on a social level few people care about how thin you are or aren't.

There was a similar discussion on this topic here a short while ago where quite a few points of view were presented. I'll try and add a link below in case it helps you:
https://www.ballroomdancers.com/Message_Board/view_messages.asp?Topic=17567

Just remember if you want to dance just go for it.

No way! Everyone can dance at any time in their life. As a matter of fact, now is the time for you to start...dancing will be the exercise you need to help you with your weight loss goals, and you will be fulfilling your dream at the same time. I am a medium framed pro and the only difference between me and the thinner girls is the type of gowns I wear! I say go for it, and in a few months you'll be wondering why you didn't start sooner. You'll look great and more importantly... You'll feel great!

The dancing can only help you. When we first started, we started with waltz and cha-cha.

For thirty minutes of sheer, unadulterated torture, the Cha-cha winded me, strained my poor fat little calves to the point of ripping cramps, and my chest felt like it would explode.

I *HATED* cha-cha. I NEVER wanted to do it again after that month.

Today, cha-cha is one of our favorites, and every time they play a cha-cha at a party, we're the first on the floor. It took about four months to get used to it, but finally your body will say "you know? This really isn't so bad- let's do this again!"

Give it a try. You'll love it.

I hated Cha-Cha too, but because I always seemed to have too long legs to do the little fast steps. Spend two months running after my dancepartners and my feet/legs were killing me having to adjust to tiny little steps.
Now its slowly turning into the dance I seem to be best at.

Now I hate EC-Swing and Samba.

But we are working on the east coast swing bit and my instructor has started giving me those stern looks when someone mentiones samba (though if she wants me to dance it maybe she should consider teaching me more than just the basic steps)

You do not need to be thin to dance. At social ballroom dances, the thin people are frequently the minority. Dance is excellent exercise. it is a fun way to get in shape and lose weight. The pros you see on TV, doing a lot of dancing, that is why they are all in pretty good shape and frequntly on the thin side.

One word (OK 2 but one name):

Buddy Schwimmer

OB

In most social dancing community, more than 70% are over-weight and over-the hill. Having said that, it is what you like to do that counts. And don't try hard to get any imbalance shape partnering up with you. I emphasis hard here.

Cynthia, it is the leaning process that has most fun. Enjoy.